The present invention relates to an MR (magnetic resonance) imaging method and apparatus which prevents image quality degradation which occurs when a flow compensating pulse is applied.
The conventional fast spin echo technique includes a pulse sequence incorporating a flow compensating pulse constituted of fcrdep and fcrrep in the read gradient (FIG. 5). By incorporating the flow compensating pulse constituted of fcrdep and fcrrep in the read gradient, image quality degradation due to flowing spins can be avoided (flow compensation).
The incorporation of the flow compensating pulse constituted of fcrdep and fcrrep may cause ghosts. In systems utilizing a high magnetic field of the order of 1.5 T or a medium magnetic field of the order of 0.5 T, the ghosts negligibly degrade image quality and do not cause a significant problem.
However, in systems utilizing a low magnetic field of the order of 0.2 T, the ghosts are troublesome because they significantly degrade image quality.